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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. field — a subject
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. field — farmland
  9. bank — of a river
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. can — to be able to
  12. field — for sport
  13. can — a tin
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bank — for money
  16. file — a tool
  17. wax — to grow
  18. can — a tin
  19. file — a line of people
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. file — a document
  23. bank — for money
  24. stand — to bear

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com